Begala Knocks Comeback Kid Talk

Dec 21, 2010

RUSH: By the way, black church leaders are not happy with Obama over the tax rate extension bill, but the media has some advice for Obama and he gets the START treaty done. They don’t want him to do a news conference about it. They say he’s lost his luster in news conferences. This morning on Morning Joe, PMSNBC, the cohost Mika Brzezinski spoke with Andrea Mitchell (NBC News, Washington) about Obama and his legislative victories, and she said, ‘There’s talk about a news conference, end-of-the-year news conference. Does that seem to be a risk at this point or a good way to put a marker down and say, here’s where we’re gonna go?’

MITCHELL: Perhaps news conferences are not the president’s best format, but the bottom line is if he gets the START treaty and has come to a lame duck session — which as Al and Eugene and you have been pointing out — has been so much better than advertised, better than any of us thought it would be. They have one ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ they will have a continuing resolution, although they’ve lost the big spending bill, which was really a blindsiding of the Senate leader by the — by that on — on the earmark issue. But given everything that they’ve accomplished so far he goes out of town before he leaves for vacation, has his own forum, and I think it’s, uhhh — it’s exactly what he ought to be doing.

RUSH: But don’t do the press conference. It’s not his best format. What about this better lame duck session than advertised? What media bias? He’s had a better lame duck session than advertised? Better than any of us thought it would be? There’s no media bias. These people still insist that there’s no bias. ‘Yeah, he’s won really big here! He’s won! Oh, yeah, he got the Bush tax rates extended! He didn’t get the omnibus because the earmark thing, but he got the START treaty. He got ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’! My, what a great guy,’ but don’t do a press conference. It’s not his great format. Eugene Robinson, the Washington Post, and Mika Brzezinski have a conversation about all of these victories.

ROBINSON: This has been a really (snickers) good stretch of time for him, and from the lame session he gets something for everybody, right? The tax cut deeeal for the — the — the — those who want to —

BRZEZINSKI: Yes!

ROBINSON: — see him move towards the middle can say, ‘Ah, he’s moving toward the middle. We like that. Don’t ask, don’t tell goes through with something for the base that really — it — it — it — it — that needed a —

RUSH: The great orator? The greatest speaking president we’ve ever had? ‘Why mess with’ all this and go destroy it by Obama having a press conference or an announcement? You can’t use a teleprompter at a press conference? What is the ‘lame session’? Lame session? That’s like hate speech. But now the next bite, this is interesting, from The Forehead. Paul Begala. He’s not thinking that this is all that big a deal. Sanjay Gupta filling in for Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 04, said, ‘You know something about the term ‘comeback kid,’ you worked closely with Bill Clinton. What do you think of the comparison here, Forehead?’

THE FOREHEAD: The vital signs, uh, Dr. Gupta —

GUPTA: (snorts)

THE FOREHEAD: — are not political polls. The vital signs here are jobs. can he create more jobs. We don’t have enough jobs being created, uh, in his presidency. I think he’s doing all he can, I agree with his economic theory, but the reality is we need more jobs. Move the needle on jobs and raise incomes and then all of this punditry is just contributing to global warming as far as I’m concerned.

RUSH: Now, The Forehead is not climbing on the bandwagon here of what a great ‘lame session’ it was. Nah, there’s nothing really to crow about here, says The Forehead. Until he starts getting jobs, there’s nothing to crow about. Now, who does The Forehead really work for? Hillary. The Forehead works with Carville for the Clintons. I find this analysis from Begala to be quite interest and fascinating.